Maple Ghost
by AntisocialAnimeFreak
Summary: One day, Gilbert meets a "new student" named Matthew. After finding out that the cute new student is scared of physical contact with others, Gilbert is determined to help his new friend get over his fears. However, he never expected to stumble upon a secret that would affect him for the rest of his life. PruCan. School AU.
1. Chapter 1 - New friend

– New friend –

It was just an average day at school, and Gilbert was on his way to his history lesson after hanging out with his best friends, Francis and Antonio. Upon arrival to the classroom, he noticed that there was someone else occupying the seat he usually sits in. He walked closer to his seat near the window and got a closer look at the blonde boy who was resting his head on the desk.

"Hey, this is where I sit," Gilbert said assertively, hoping the boy wasn't asleep and could actually hear him.

The boy jumped; appearing surprised he raised his head from the desk and nervously looked at Gilbert who was glaring down on him.

"Ah, I'm sorry," the boy said quietly, and stood up from where he was sitting. "I'll just leave."

Gilbert couldn't help but notice how cute and shy the boy appeared. He had a single strand of hair that stuck out in a curl.

"Wait, you don't have to go, the seat next to mine is always free anyway, and you can sit there if you like," Gilbert offered, believing he had scared the boy. It's not like he was really all that bothered about someone sitting in his seat anyway.

"Th-thank you," the boy said with a smile, surprised that the albino was being so kind to him.

The boy moved to the next seat over, and Gilbert sat down in his normal seat.

"I've not seen you around before, are you new here?" Gilbert asked.

"Uh... yeah, I just started today," the boy replied, still speaking quietly. "My name's Matthew by the way."

"Nice to meet you Matthew," Gilbert said with a friendly grin on his face. "I'm Gilbert, the most awesome person in the whole school."

Matthew smiled, but didn't say anything. Gilbert could tell that Matthew was nervous still. He reached out to pat Matthew on the shoulder and reassure him that he doesn't have to feel nervous, but Matthew flinched at the sight of Gilbert's hand reaching towards him. He pulled away so that Gilbert wouldn't touch him.

"Hey, I wasn't going to hurt you or anything, you don't have to be so scared," Gilbert said, worrying about his new friend.

"I... I just don't really like contact with other people, I suppose," Matthew said.

"Okay, I just won't touch you," Gilbert said. "I just wanted you to know that you shouldn't feel nervous or scared around me; we're friends now after all."

Hearing this made Matthew smile, and seeing Matthew's cute smile made Gilbert's smile grow.

Gilbert figured it probably wouldn't be a good idea to introduce him to Francis and Antonio yet; if he's really this shy then they'd probably scare him away.

The teacher soon arrived and began the lesson. When he called the students' names on the register, Matthew's name was not called.

"Hey, Matthew, your name wasn't on the register," Gilbert whispered. "Are you sure you're in the right class?"

"I'm sure it must just be because I'm new," Matthew replied, still smiling.

Gilbert didn't question it; possibly because it was the most confident he had heard Matthew speak since meeting him.

Matthew didn't seem to be paying attention to the lesson. He spent the whole lesson just gazing in awe at the boy next to him. He couldn't keep his eyes of that bright white hair and those fiery red eyes. Gilbert didn't seem to notice that he was being stared at; he was too engrossed in the lesson as they were learning about the history of Prussia.

After the lesson, Gilbert wasn't sure if he should invite Matthew to sit with him at lunch. He didn't want to new student to be alone on his first day, but he knew how rowdy Francis and Antonio could get sometimes and he didn't want them scaring his new friend away.

"Hey, want to join me for lunch?" Gilbert asked. _We'll find somewhere quiet to sit until he's used to the school_. _I'll just have to explain to Francis and Antonio later that I couldn't sit with them._

"Uh, no thank you," Matthew nervously replied, "I'm not really hungry."

"Well you don't have to eat anything, we could just hang out. It wouldn't be fair to leave you on your own since you're new here," Gilbert scratched the back of his head. "We don't even have to go to the cafeteria; my friends and I usually go to the roof."

"Could we just sit outside somewhere?" Matthew suggested. "The weather's nice enough."

"Sure," Gilbert replied as they walked to the doors which lead outside.

Once they were outside, they both looked around for a good place to relax during lunch time. They eventually decided on sitting on the rocks at the other end of the school grounds.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?" Gilbert asked as he pulled his lunch out of his bag. "You look quite skinny."

Gilbert reached out to touch Matthew's belly to feel how skinny he was. Matthew quickly moved away so that Gilbert couldn't reach him.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched," Gilbert said, feeling like an idiot. _Shit, I scared him. But it can't be normal to be that scared of physical contact. _

"It's okay," Matthew said quietly, looking down at the floor as if hanging his head in shame.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gilbert asked with a worried expression on his face. "You look really down. I promise I won't try to touch you again, I didn't know it would upset you this much."

"Thank you," Matthew said almost silently, and a smile began to appear on his face.

They two of them spent 20 minutes happily talking about random stuff. Gilbert warned Matthew of places he should probably avoid in the school and which teachers are the coolest and which are the strictest. Whenever he asked Matthew about himself, Matthew would go quiet, as if he didn't know the answer.

Soon lunch time was over and they had to start making their ways to their next lessons, the last lesson of the day. Gilbert felt disappointed to hear that Matthew wasn't going to be in his next lesson. However, he remembered that his strict teacher wouldn't let them talk anyway, and his other friends would be there.

"I don't know if we'll be in any other lessons together, so do you want to meet here again at lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure," Matthew replied with a smile.

* * *

Gilbert burst into the classroom filled with joy and enthusiasm, which was soon killed by the realisation that he was in a maths lesson. _Damn, after such a good lunch time, why do I have to be stuck in maths? So boring, and not awesome at all. _

"And where were you at lunch?" Antonio asked loudly to his friend who was walking towards him from the other side of the room.

"Sorry, I was busy with some stuff," Gilbert scratched his neck as he approached his friends.

"And what 'stuff' would that be?" Francis interrupted.

"Just stuff, it doesn't matter," Gilbert said, trying to shake off the topic.

"Whatever you're hiding from us," Antonio glared at his white haired friend. "We'll find out."

"I'm not hiding anything, really it was just nothing," Gilbert protested, not making eye contact with his friends. _If I tell them about Matthew, they'll probably want to meet him, and these two can't keep their hands to themselves; they'd scare him away for sure._

The teacher started the lesson, scolding the trio each time they tried to talk, making continuation of the conversation impossible.

* * *

The next day, Gilbert arrived at school with a little yellow blob in his hair, which got him into quite a bit of trouble with the teachers. He was determined to show Matthew, but he couldn't find him anywhere and so he didn't see him again until lunch when they met at the rocks.

"Matthew!" Gilbert shouted as he ran towards the quiet rocks where Matthew sat. "I have someone who I'd like you to meet."

"Who?" Matthew asked, but then took a look at Gilbert's head as he sat down.

"Meet Gilbird," Gilbert said as he waved his hands above his head gesturing to the small bird that was nesting there. "He's the most awesome bird in the world."

"He's really cute," Matthew said smiling at the bird.

"Yep, and you're really cute too," Gilbert blurted out. After realising what he said, a bright red blush appeared on his face. _Did I really say that out loud? _

"Wha- What? I'm not cute," Matthew protested, feeling embarrassed.

"Of course you are," Gilbert reassured him. _I can't just say he's not cute now after saying he is, that'd just be cruel. _"You're just as cute as Gilbird. I know, I'll call you Birdie from now on."

"Okay," Matthew said quietly, still feeling embarrassed about being called 'cute'.

"Anyway," Gilbert decided to change the topic a little, "I was wondering if you could touch Gilbird."

"Why?" Matthew asked curiously.

"You're scared of contact with other people, but what about animals?"

"I can't touch animals either," Matthew sounded ashamed of himself for not being able to simply touch a small bird.

"Then Gilbird and I will help you conquer your fear. One day you'll not be afraid to touch Gilbird's soft feathers," Gilbert was sounding very excited.

"That's very kind of you to offer, but it's really not necessary," Matthew nervously said.

"Not necessary?" Gilbert was shocked, and disappointed, to hear that Matthew didn't want his help. "But it must be difficult for you. What if you were in a crowded corridor? You're bound to end up touching someone."

"Really, I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me so much," Matthew smiled as if he was only pretending that he was fine.

"No way, I really like you, Birdie, so I'm going to help you!" Gilbert said with a cheerful grin on his face.

Matthew looked happy to hear that Gilbert really cared about him, even though they had only known each other for a day.

"Okay, but don't get your hopes up, I won't touch anyone," Matthew replied.

* * *

**A/N: So I'm going to end this chapter here... and I'll start writing the next chapter eventually...**


	2. Chapter 2 - Ghost rumours

– Ghost rumours –

The next day at school, Gilbert, with his little yellow bird perched on his head, was sitting in the classroom with Francis, who was sitting on the desk, with 10 minutes to spare before the lesson would start. The classroom was relatively quiet with just small groups of friends talking among themselves, and some of them giving Gilbert strange glances at the sight of him with a bird on his head. Francis was pestering Gilbert about why he hadn't been joining him and Antonio at lunch. Before Gilbert could say anything back to Francis, he noticed that most of the people in the class were staring at Arthur who had just entered the classroom; they were giggling and whispering about him.

"Did something happen involving Arthur?" Gilbert asked Francis. "It's like the whole atmosphere of the room just changed."

"Maybe if you were around at lunch yesterday you would have heard about it," Francis replied.

"Are you going to tell me?" Gilbert asked.

"Arthur thinks he saw a ghost," Francis said out loudly, so the whole class could hear what he was saying, staring at Arthur as he spoke.

Before Gilbert could say anything, Arthur shouted across the room.

"Shut up, you git!" Arthur shouted as he stormed over to where Francis and Gilbert were. "I know what I saw!"

"It was just your mind playing tricks on you," Francis insisted.

"No, it was a ghost," Arthur continued to argue. "Normal people don't just float through walls, and that was exactly what I saw."

"Really?" Francis laughed. "So what did this ghost look like if you saw it so clearly?"

"I can't really say," Arthur said nervously. "I didn't see it very well, so I only noticed it had blonde hair and was wearing our school uniform, but I know it was a ghost because I saw it go straight through the wall."

"Sounds like you saw someone, and at an angle they appeared to be going through a wall, but really they were just turning a corner or walking through the doorway," Francis explained, making sense of what was seen.

"No, it definitely went through the wall," Arthur continued to insist.

Gilbert was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the boys standing either side of him arguing. He just sat there waiting for Francis and Arthur to get tired of arguing, or for the lesson to begin so they'd be forced to stop.

"Well nobody believes you," Francis said with a smirk on his face. "Now half the school is laughing at you for claiming such ridiculous things, like that time in nursery when you spent the whole of play time running around the playground like a lunatic and then claimed you were chasing the fairies."

"Shut up!" Arthur shouted as his face grew red in embarrassment.

"Or like that time when you-"

"SHUT UP, BASTARD!" Arthur shouted at the top of his voice, interrupting whatever Francis was about to say. He looked really angry, but also really hurt that Francis would humiliate him even more by reminding him and the class of the embarrassing moments from his past.

The teacher arrived after hearing Arthur's shout and scolded him for swearing. Arthur returned to his desk and kicked his chair backwards before taking a seat. Gilbert then found himself in trouble for bringing his bird to school. He refused to take Gilbird home, and so rather than deal with Gilbert's stubbornness, the teacher decided to let him get away with it for the day, but reminded him that he would be in more trouble if he brings his bird in again.

Gilbert glanced at Arthur at as the lesson came to an end. _I think Francis really upset him. They argue so much, but he looks so hurt this time._

"Hey, Francis, you shouldn't have been so harsh earlier," Gilbert said, looking very serious. "All Arthur said was that he saw a ghost, why is it such a big deal? I get that it's funny in the way that it's complete nonsense, but still it seems like it shouldn't be that important."

"It's not a big deal at all... He always says ridiculous things, and everyone always laughs at him for it. That's just how it is. He probably thinks one day he'll get us to actually believe him," Francis explained. "I guess we just fight so much I didn't realise it was getting a bit out of hand, but he'll get over it, he always does... but then we always find something new to fight about."

Leaving Francis to ponder on his relationship with Arthur, Gilbert went to the cafeteria to get something to eat as he forgot to pack his lunch that morning. _I'd better be quick or I'll leave Birdie waiting for me. _As he entered the cafeteria, he saw Arthur sit down at an empty table, all on his own. He still looked really upset. Arthur looked up at Alfred who walked past. Alfred only glanced at him with a sad expression on his face, and then proceeded to sit next to Kiku, leaving Arthur alone. Arthur's gaze travelled from Alfred to the food placed in front of him. After Gilbert bought a sandwich and walked past Arthur to leave the cafeteria, he heard him talking to himself, "Alfred doesn't even want to come near me any more; I'm such an embarrassment."

Gilbert ate his sandwich on his way to meet Matthew despite it being against the school rules to eat in the corridors. He tossed the packaging in the bin by the exit as he walked outside.

"Birdie! Sorry, I'm late," Gilbert shouted over to Matthew as he walked towards him.

"It's okay, I don't mind waiting for you. Why do you have Gilbird with you again today?" Matthew asked, looking up at the yellow bird. "Didn't you get in trouble for bringing him to school?"

"Yeah, but teachers don't scare me," Gilbert said. "I told you that Gilbird was going to help you overcome your fears too, so it's necessary for him to be here."

"You didn't have to do that for me... I don't want to get you into trouble," Matthew said, sounding happy that Gilbert was doing it for him, but with worry that it wouldn't be in Gilbert's best interests.

"Its fine," Gilbert said confidently. "How much trouble could I get into for having a cute little bird on my head?"

Matthew just responded with a smile.

"Oh, have you heard that Arthur has claimed to see a ghost in the school?" Gilbert asked, and began to ramble on. "It's pretty funny, but everyone seems to be taking it way to seriously, being really mean to Arthur about it. I hope Francis is right about him getting over it, but I think it's really bothering him. Oh, you probably don't who Arthur is considering you're new, but he's the blonde kid with the bushy eyebrows."

Gilbert could see how awkward Matthew was feeling. _I'm talking too much, aren't I?_

"Hey, Birdie, are you okay? You can say something too, you know," Gilbert said, about to reach towards Matthew to pat him on the shoulder. He pulled his hand back before he had gotten too close to Matthew. _Crap, I can't touch him, he'd hate it... he might even hate me, and I don't want that._

"I'm fine, I don't really have much to say anyway," Matthew said with a smile.

"Okay, but you didn't look happy, I thought I might have said something to upset you," Gilbert said, looking very concerned about his friend. _I bet he's scared of ghost or something. _"We can change the topic if you like."

"Okay," Matthew agreed, but didn't suggest something else they could have talked about.

The two of them sat in silence long enough for it to become awkward. They were just staring at each other hoping the other would start a new conversation. Gilbert decided that random ramblings would be better than silence, and so he began talking about what thoughts came to his head, while Matthew just sat there gazing at him.

Lunch time soon came to an end.

"Ah, we have history next. That seems to be the only lesson we have together," Gilbert said smiling as he stood up. "Let's go."

Matthew seemed to shy away, as if he didn't want to go to the lesson. Despite this, he still stood up and followed Gilbert to the classroom. They took their seats and waited for the lesson to start.

"Hey, Birdie, are you okay?" Gilbert asked. "You're being really quiet."

"I'm fine, I just don't feel like talking very much right now," Matthew replied.

"Okay, but if something's troubling you, you can tell me," Gilbert reassured him.

"Thanks," Matthew said quietly.

"No problem," Gilbert smiled.

Gilbert could help but notice he was getting strange looks from people near him. _Maybe I shouldn't have brought Gilbird with me; he seems to be attracting a bit of attention. _He also noticed that Matthew's name was still not on the register. _That's strange, Birdie's been here for a couple of days, they should have added his name by now._


	3. Chapter 3 - I love you

– I love you –

A few days had past, and Gilbert still hadn't told his friends about his new friend Matthew whom he was becoming very close to. _It's strange; I seem to be thinking of Birdie a lot. He's so cute, and I feel so happy when I'm with him; I really want him to get over his fear soon that I can give him a big hug. That's not weird is it? Is it weird for me to like another guy like this?_

Gilbert continued to ponder on his feelings as he walked down the corridor. Not paying attention, he walked right into the door. Gilbird chirped as if he were laughing at him for not paying attention. Luckily the corridor was empty, so Gilbird was the only one there to laugh at him.

Rubbing his nose, he wandered outside and saw that Matthew was already waiting for him by the rocks. Gilbert started to feel embarrassed about walking into the door. _I hope Birdie didn't see; the awesome me must have looked so un-awesome. _

"Hey, Birdie. You're always here before me; do you get let out of lesson early or something?" Gilbert asked as he approached his friend.

"No, I guess I'm just faster than you, or maybe my classrooms are closer to here than yours," Matthew guessed. "By the way, I could clearly see through the window that you walked into the door. Are you okay? Is there something bothering you?"

_He actually saw? No way, I can almost feel my awesomeness fading. At least he's not laughing at me. _

"I'm fine, Birdie," Gilbert said nervously, rubbing his nose again as he remembered the pain of it hitting the door. "I just had something on my mind."

"So something _is_ bothering you?" Matthew asked to confirm if Gilbert was as fine as he claimed to be.

"I... I was just thinking about you," Gilbert admitted, deciding to be honest. "So really, there isn't anything wrong."

"Why were you thinking about me?" Matthew seemed really surprised, but then sounded hurt. "Am I getting on your nerves? You don't have to hang out with me any more if I'm bothering you."

"What? Why would you think that? I was thinking about you because I love you," Gilbert blurted out.

"You love me?" Matthew looked confused; as if it was his first time anyone had said they loved him.

"Well, yeah, I love you," Gilbert said feeling really embarrassed about saying it out loud. "I feel really happy being with you. Don't you feel the same?"

Matthew began to smile; it was obvious how happy he was to hear that Gilbert liked him.

"I love you too," Matthew said quietly.

"Aw, you've gone all shy, Birdie," Gilbert pointed out. "You're so adorable."

Feeling embarrassed, Matthew didn't say anything.

"Birdie, can I hug you yet?" Gilbert asked, sounding desperate to hug him. He began to lean closer to Matthew as he waited for a reply. _Please say yes, please say yes!_

"I'm sorry," Matthew moved further away, looking sad. "I just can't."

"Its fine, I love you even if I can't touch you," Gilbert said with a smile. _Damn, I really want to hug him... Just one hug! _

"Thank you for understanding," Matthew said, still sounding sad.

Gilbert decided that even if he couldn't touch Matthew, he wanted to spend more time with him. He realised that he and Matthew had never seen each other when school finished. It was a Friday, and so Gilbert knew that he'd have to wait the whole weekend before getting to see his Birdie again.

"Want to come to my house after school? Or maybe meet up tomorrow?" Gilbert asked, filled with excitement at the idea of spending the weekend with Matthew.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather not," Matthew quietly replied.

"Why not? It'll be fun to hang out after school," Gilbert said, trying to convince Matthew to agree.

Matthew just shook his head and apologised once more. Gilbert's excitement suddenly decreased and he was left with a frown on his face. _I understand why he doesn't want to hug me, but I can't understand why he doesn't want to hang out with me. _

After his offer to hang out over the weekend was rejected, he offered to walk Matthew home. To Gilbert's disappointment, Matthew refused his kind offer claiming that they rarely have the same lessons at the end of the day anyway so it's easier for them to go home separately. Despite this, Gilbert told Matthew that he'll wait for him at the gate once school finished.

After waiting for half an hour, hoping that Matthew would turn up any moment, Gilbert gave up and walked home feeling completely devastated. _He knew I was waiting for him, so why didn't he turn up? I just wanted to spend more time with him. Does he not really like me? He said he loves me, but he may have just been saying that to be nice. _

That weekend was the most boring and depressing weekend Gilbert had ever experienced. _I wish Birdie had agreed to meet with me, I'm so un-awesomely bored! There's nothing to do. _Picking up the controller to his game console, Gilbert thought of how much more fun it would be if he were playing with Matthew. After an hour of playing alone, he tossed the controller onto the grey bean bag on his bedroom floor. _Not fun enough._

On Monday morning, Gilbert felt as if he had wasted the whole weekend, which he had as he spent the whole weekend complaining to Gilbird about how much he missed Matthew. When he was finally able to talk to Matthew again, he looked heartbroken.

"Why didn't you turn up?" Gilbert asked. "I waited, but you never came."

"I did say I wouldn't be there," Matthew protested, unintentionally sounding rude. "And I was let out of class early, so I decided to leave early."

Gilbert looked really hurt. _Does he really not care about me? Does he not want to spend time with me?_

"Gil, I'm sorry," Matthew said, looking really sad about hurting Gilbert.

"Hey, you never called me Gil before," Gilbert noticed, somehow making him worry less about Matthew not waiting for him.

"I thought I should give you a nickname because you call me Birdie," Matthew explained. "I couldn't think of anything creative, so I decided on Gil. I hope you don't mind."

"I love it," Gilbert stated with a huge smile on his face. _I wonder if he wasted his weekend trying to think of names for me, that's adorable._ "But don't think I'll give up on waiting for you. I'm going to wait for you every day after school."

"Please don't waste your time, I'm not going to be there no matter how long you wait," Matthew said with a worried look.

Gilbert kept his word and waited every day just as he said he would, but only for three days. On the third day that he waited, there was still no sign of Matthew after school. _Why doesn't he want to spend time with me? He said he loves me, he gave me a nickname, but he doesn't want to meet with me after school? Is he scared I might try to touch him? I guess I might be behaving a bit clingy._

Gilbert didn't wait for Matthew for a fourth day in a row because that day at school, he couldn't find him during break time or lunch time. _Where on Earth did Birdie go? I haven't seen him all day. I hope he's not avoiding me. I hope nothing bad has happened to him either. _

He was sure that Matthew must not be in school, so Gilbert started hanging around with Antonio and Francis again. They continued to pester him about where he had been going when he wasn't hanging out with them, but Gilbert didn't say anything. He didn't even argue back to anything they said, he was feeling too upset about not being with Matthew that he couldn't find the energy to fight. _I can't be happy any more without Birdie._

* * *

**A/N: I didn't want to use the word "love" in this chapter because it seems like a strong word to use considering this is a confession after knowing each other for only a few days, but Gilbert already said that he really likes him back in the first chapter, and this time it needed to be more special. **


	4. Chapter 4 - Let me touch you

– Let me touch you –

The next day, Gilbert wasn't in a good mood after convincing himself that Matthew was avoiding him.

"Are you okay?" Francis asked Gilbert, who was pressing his head against his desk. "You don't look so good."

Gilbert shook his head, which was still pressed against the desk. Gilbird remained balanced on Gilbert's head the whole time.

"What's wrong, mon ami?" Francis asked, genuinely concerned about his friend.

Gilbert decided it was about time he told Francis about Matthew. He turned his head so that his left cheek was pressed against the desk. Gilbird shuffled onto the right side of Gilbert's head so that he wouldn't fall off.

"Matthew's been avoiding me," Gilbert sighed, purposely not calling him 'Birdie' so that Francis wouldn't possibly assume he was talking about Gilbird.

"Who's that?" Francis asked.

"He's the guy I've been hanging out with rather than hang out with you and Antonio," Gilbert confessed. "He's the new student who just started here last week."

"What are you talking about?" Francis appeared to be very confused. "There haven't been any new students here recently."

"There has. Matthew only started last week on Monday," Gilbert protested, lifting his head from the desk, causing Gilbird to change position again.

"Seriously, don't start making up weird stuff. There is no new student. " Francis said, still looking confused.

"I'm not making this up!" Gilbert began speaking louder. _Why hasn't he heard of Birdie?_

"I know you've been spending quite a bit of time on your own, but I never thought you'd create an imaginary friend. That explains why people have been saying you've been talking to yourself recently," Francis began to laugh. "That's something I'd expect from Arthur, not you."

Gilbird began to chirp in anger at Francis as he claimed that Gilbert was on his own, when clearly he had the most adorable bird in the world keeping him company from on top of his head.

Just as Gilbert was about to say something, the classroom door slammed open.

"I'm telling you, it's true!" Arthur said to Alfred as they entered the classroom. "Why can't you believe me?"

All attention was on the arguing couple, but they didn't seem to notice that everyone was staring at them.

"I'm sick of your ghost stories, Arthur!" Alfred replied. "You can claim to see that ghost a many times as you like, but nobody's going to believe you. Stop bothering me about it."

"But I saw the ghost clearly this time!" Arthur claimed. "Its hair was blonde and wavy, and it wore glasses, and-"

"It doesn't matter," Alfred interrupted him. "You're the only one who can see this ghost, so how is describing it going to help at all?"

Arthur just glared at Alfred while trying to think of something to say.

"I don't know why you insist this ghost is real, but ghosts aren't real, so just give up, you're only making yourself look more stupid," Alfred said in an attempt to end the argument.

"Try saying that 'ghosts aren't real' the next time you make me watch a ghost film with you because it is 'too scary to watch alone'," Arthur mocked Alfred, looking proud of himself for successfully embarrassing Alfred in front of the class.

Alfred was clearly embarrassed as his cheeks turned pink and he stormed out of the class. Arthur soon went from looking pleased with himself to looking rather grumpy, as if embarrassing Alfred wasn't as satisfying as he thought it would be. He sat at his desk and Gilbert could hear him whispering strange chants that he couldn't understand, as if he were cursing Alfred.

Gilbert knew he shouldn't get involved with Arthur's ghost stories, but he couldn't help notice that the description of the ghost did sound rather similar to Matthew's appearance. _Could Birdie be...? No way, ghosts don't even exist, Arthur is just making up that ghost story, and Birdie probably hasn't been noticed 'cause he doesn't really stand out, he's so quiet. _Gilbert continued to try to think of more reasonable explanations for why Matthew had not been noticed. Due to this, Gilbert didn't pay much attention to the lesson.

After the lesson, Gilbert went to check if Matthew was waiting for him at their usual spot by the rocks. He was actually there, standing by the rocks. Gilbert felt so happy; he had missed Matthew so much and was happy that he had stopped avoiding him.

"Birdie, you're here!" Gilbert exclaimed as he ran towards Matthew.

"Yeah, sorry if I worried you by not coming in yesterday," Matthew said quietly, purposely not mentioning that he hadn't been meeting him at the end of school.

"Its okay, Birdie, I'm glad you're okay," Gilbert smiled. He felt happy again just being able to see and talk to Matthew. "I really missed you though."

"I missed you too," Matthew said in return.

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to meet some of my other friends," Gilbert suggested. _If Francis doesn't believe me that Birdie is real, then I'll just have to introduce him to him. _

"I'd rather not, I'm just happy being with you, I'm not sure I'd like to meet new people," Matthew replied nervously.

"If you're happy being with me, then why have you been avoiding me so much?" Gilbert sounded annoyed. He couldn't hold in how he was feeling, he had to be honest with Matthew. "You never a give real reason why, but you'll always try to avoid being with me at any time other than at breaks and lunch times!"

Matthew nervously moved a bit further away from Gilbert.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to speak so loud, I don't want to scare you. I just want to spend more time with you, but you keep rejecting me every time."

Matthew just apologised. _All Birdie ever does is apologise. I don't want him feeling like he's done something wrong. _

"You don't have to keep apologising," Gilbert said.

Matthew tried to think really hard about what he should say while fighting the urge to say 'sorry' for always saying sorry. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings.

_Damn, he looks so awesomely cute, I just want to... but I can't... Surely he wouldn't hate me if I did it just this one time. He might actually like it. _

Gilbert took a step towards Matthew, stretched his arms wide, and brought them to a close around Matthew's body. Only they didn't wrap around Matthew's body, but rather they went right though him, taking both boys by surprise. Matthew 'jumped' backwards in shock, but he didn't land after this 'jump'. He remained floating in the air looking terrified.

Gilbert took a step away from Matthew and looked up at the floating boy. "Birdie... You... No way!"

* * *

**A/N: This has all been from Gilbert's point of view, but you'll get to hear more from Matthew in the next chapter. He has a lot of explaining to do!  
Also, "mon ami" is French for "my friend" for those of you who don't know. (I thought I should try to make Francis speak more French)**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Ghost

– The Ghost –

Gilbert needed some time to relax and calm down after the shock. When he thought he was ready to speak, he turned to Matthew who had a sad expression on his face. Matthew was no longer aligning his body with the floor, now that his secret was out, he didn't feel the need to put in the effort to make himself appear more human. Gilbert tried to say something, but he couldn't get the words out and needed a few more minutes before he could fully calm down.

"My arms went straight through you. You're... really a ghost?" Gilbert asked, even though the answer was obvious. "Is that why you wouldn't meet me outside of school?"

Matthew nodded his head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you."

"_Why_ couldn't you tell me?" Gilbert asked. _I have much I want to- no, have to ask him. I don't want to bombard him with questions, but it's the only way I'll find anything out. _

"It's kind of a long story," Matthew said, trying to avoid answering.

"I'll listen to all of it," Gilbert said, looking serious and determined to know.

"I'm a ghost because I was unable to move on from this world when I died," Matthew began to explain. "I think that what's trapped me here is friendship. You see, I never had friends when I was living. I'd been longing for a friend my whole life, but I was practically invisible to the world, it was rare that anyone would even look at me. I think that to move on from this world, I need to make friends with someone. I thought it would be impossible; nobody saw me as a human, so I didn't expect anyone to be able to see me as a ghost. I decided that if someone ever did see me, I'd want that someone to like me for who I am as if I were still human. That's why I didn't tell you I'm a ghost, I'm sorry"

"I understand, Birdie. There's no need to apologise," Gilbert said, smiling as if everything was alright. "But why am I the only one who can see you? Well, apart from Arthur who also saw you, but he seems to see a lot of things from what I hear from Francis."

"Um... well, I uh," Matthew became really nervous answering this question. "I had always admired you; you're so cool, so I'd watch you sometimes, and I think it may be my desire to be with you that has allowed you to see me."

"So you've always liked the awesome me?" Gilbert asked, slightly blushing. "Is that why you were in my seat?"

"Yeah," Matthew nodded his head shyly. It was obvious that if Matthew still had blood pumping through his body, he'd be blushing like crazy. "I knew where you sit in your lessons and I didn't think you'd notice me because nobody else sees me. I would have moved over to the next seat when you arrived anyway, so it's not like you would have sat on me."

"So you can touch objects and not people?" Gilbert asked.

"Well, no, I don't seem to be able to touch anything, but I'm good at positioning myself against an object so that I appear to be touching it," Matthew explained.

"You are good; you fooled me every time," Gilbert said, realising that it doesn't bother him as much that the guy he loves is ghost. _It's still kinda strange that he's a ghost, but he's still the same Birdie. I'll never get that hug I wanted though. Actually... _"Birdie, do you think we could hug? I won't be able to hug you properly 'cause my arms will go through you, but I could loosely wrap my arms around you, and it would be kinda like a hug."

"Okay, we can try," Matthew replied with a smile, floating closer to Gilbert, and bringing his feet closer to the floor to make himself appear more human again.

Gilbert wrapped his arms around Matthew carefully. He did his best to get as close to Matthew as possible without his body going through his. Matthew wrapped his arms around Gilbert, making sure his arms weren't going through Gilbert's body. _Even if we can't touch, and I can't really feel Birdie, just being like this is nice knowing that my arms are around him. _

"If anyone was around, to them it would just look like you're hugging the air," Matthew decided to mention. They pulled out of the hug and both laughed at the idea of how ridiculous Gilbert must have looked.

Gilbert and Matthew were still standing really close. Matthew was no longer bothered by the distance between them. Once his secret was out, he had nothing to hide. Gilbert leant his slightly blushing face closer to Matthew's. The distance between them grew smaller and smaller, until Gilbert's lips were up against Matthew's. When he pulled away, they both smiled at each other.

"I love you, Gil," Matthew spoke first after the kiss.

"Ich liebe dich, Birdie," Gilbert spoke, but got a confused look from Matthew. "It means 'I love you'."

The two of them felt so happy being with each other. However, Gilbert still had questions that he wanted to ask.

"I kind of feel strange about asking this, but how exactly did you die?" Gilbert asked, trying not to sound rude. _I hope ghosts don't get offended by that question. _"You don't have to tell me if it brings up bad memories, you shouldn't be forcing yourself to answer my questions if you don't want to."

"It's okay, I'll tell you. I feel like you have the right to know, after all, you are my only friend," Matthew said, and then began to explain his death. "Hmmm... Well I guess I'll start by telling you about my pet polar bear. What was his name again? Kuma... Kuma... something..."

"You don't remember your own pet's name?" Gilbert asked. "Wait, your pet was a _polar bear_?"

"Oh, I remember now, it was Kumajirou! Anyway, yeah, I had a polar bear as a pet. He wasn't very big, so I'd take him everywhere with me so that I wouldn't be lonely. I even took him to school with me, and because nobody ever noticed me, I never got into trouble with the teachers about it like you do with Gilbird. However, there were some students who did notice me occasionally," Matthew began to speak with a sad tone to his voice. He had sounded so happy before when he mentioned his bear. "These students liked to bully me when they got bored and had nothing better to do. At first they used to just say mean things to me, but eventually they started to physically hurt me. I stopped bringing Kumajirou to school with me because I didn't want him getting hurt, but one day he followed me. The bullies got to him and started hurting him. They were pulling at his fur; it looked painful, and I couldn't just stand there and watch. I tried to fight back to get them away from Kumajirou, but before I could do anything to actually help, one of them punched me and then pushed me to the ground with a lot of force. I hit my head on the hard ground and died instantly."

Gilbert didn't know what to say. _I never realised that Birdie had such a rough life. If only I had been there, I would have saved him and his bear from those bullies._

"Hey, don't look so sad," Matthew said, seeing that Gilbert looked like he might cry after hearing his story. "It's all in the past now, it can't be changed. It's probably a good thing I died; I didn't have the happiest life anyway."

"Don't say things like that!" Gilbert shouted. "How could your death possibly be a good thing?"

"Well, I was able to meet you," Matthew said with a smile.

Gilbert smiled back. _I'm not asking him anything else, I don't want to force him to remember all those bad times. I'm not even going to ask how this school didn't get closed down after a murder took place here, or if he knows what happened to his bear. It would only bring up more bad memories. _

"Gil, there's actually something else I have to tell you," Matthew said, looking very sad.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Gilbert asked, looking very worried.

"Well... We became friends..." Matthew was speaking slowly, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to say what he had to say.

"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?" Gilbert was confused. "You were just saying you were happy to meet me."

"But now that I have made a friend, I have fulfilled my purpose of staying here. I can finally move on," Matthew said, still looking unhappy.

"Are you saying you're... leaving?" Gilbert asked, sounding very shocked and hurt.

"I have to. Now that I am able to move on, it's difficult for me to stay here, as if some force is trying to pull me away" Matthew explained. "I won't be able to stay here much longer. Actually, before you found out I was a ghost; I was just going to make up a story about moving away. I thought it would be easier to tell a lie than explain to you that I'm a ghost."

"Is it really impossible for you to stay?" Gilbert asked, desperately hoping there could be some way for Matthew to stay with him.

"I shouldn't have gotten so close to you knowing that I'd just leave you in the end. It was cruel of me, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have told you that I love you... but... I love you," As Matthew spoke, he began to fade.

"Please don't leave me, Birdie," Gilbert cried out. "Can't you please stay with me?"

"You'll be fine without me. You have plenty of friends who care about you," Matthew said in an attempt to calm Gilbert down. His voice was becoming quieter as he continued to fade.

"But I'll miss you so much," Gilbert continued to cry.

"I'll miss you too, Gil, maybe I'll be born again and we could meet again," with his last words spoken, Matthew faded away completely.

"BIRDIE!" Gilbert cried out. He reached out to the air in front of him where Matthew was, but he knew he was gone. Gilbert collapsed onto his knees and began to cry. Tears streamed down his face. _Birdie, no... You can't be gone. I'll never meet anyone like you again. I'll be lonely without you. _He lifted his head up and tried to wipe away his tears. Through his blurry vision, he saw twirling down from where Matthew had faded away, a single maple seed. Gilbert managed to catch it and held it gently in his hands.

"Birdie, is this you?" he asked the seed as tears continued to run down his face. He knew the seed could not possibly talk back, but the seed had appeared out of nowhere, so the seed being Matthew seemed to be a logical explanation. "I can finally touch you."

* * *

**A/N: So... yeah... Matthew's a seed now... I hope you all don't mind that... (I should be finished with this story in about 2 more chapters).  
Also, I am so sorry it took so long for me to add this chapter! I've been spending all my free time playing Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright. I'll get the next chapters written as soon as possible when I complete the game, but I have a busy month ahead of me, so I apologise in advance if I keep you waiting again. **


	6. Chapter 6 - Believe in Ghosts & Friends

– Believe in ghosts and friends–

Gilbert couldn't stop crying, he knew he'd never see Matthew in the same way again, but he was still happy to have him with him in the form of a seed. Looking like a complete wreck after crying so much, Gilbert sat under a tree and continued to quietly cry while holding onto the seed. He held it gently enough that he wasn't squashing it in his hand, but tight enough that he knew he'd not drop it. He was determined to not let go of the seed. _I'm not going to let you leave me again, Birdie. _

After calming down, he thought about how Arthur was right about there being a ghost. He knew it was wrong for him to be bullied just because nobody else you see the ghost. It reminded him of how Matthew had said he was bullied. He decided that he should let Alfred and Francis know that Arthur was right, and put an end to their ridiculous arguments.

Gilbert waited for lessons to finish, and for lunch time to begin. He knew where Francis would be at lunch time, and so he decided he would talk to him first. However, on his way, he saw Alfred walk past and took this opportunity to speak to him first instead.

"Hey, dude, what's up?" Alfred asked as he saw Gilbert approaching him.

"Arthur was right about there being a ghost in the school; you should believe him," Gilbert said bluntly.

"What? But there are no such things as ghosts, he was clearly making it up," Alfred laughed. "I wouldn't have expected you to take his side."

"He's telling the truth," Gilbert's fiery red eyes looked filled with anger. "He's clearly upset that you're embarrassed to be seen as his friend any more. Why does it affect your friendship so much? All he did was say he saw a ghost!"

"If he wants to be the laughing stock of the school, then that's his choice and I'm not getting involved as long as he stops bothering me about it. Maybe if he stops making up all this crap all the time, I'd be his friend again!"

"He's not making it up," Gilbert's thoughts of Matthew were so close to making him cry again. "And that's not how friendship should work. If he's your friend then you should believe him, even if what he says is hard for you to believe. Friends are supposed to trust each other."

Gilbert knew he'd cry again if he were to continue talking, and so he walked away before Alfred could say anything else, leaving Alfred to think about what his friendship with Arthur really means to him.

* * *

Francis was exactly where Gilbert thought he'd be. Although, he was surprised to find him alone; he thought Antonio would have been with him.

"Have you still fallen out with your imaginary friend?" Francis asked jokingly. He soon saw from the angry and sad look on Gilbert's face that he probably shouldn't have said that.

"He's not imaginary," Gilbert said, holding back both his anger and sadness. "He was the ghost that Arthur saw."

Francis appeared shocked at what Gilbert had said. "So you're saying _you_ saw this 'ghost' too?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Gilbert replied. "Arthur was telling the truth, he really did see a ghost."

Francis sighed, "Okay, I'll believe you, but only because I'm hearing this from you."

"So are you going to stop fighting with him?" Gilbert asked, hoping he was getting somewhere.

"That depends on him. We've always been fighting; it's not going to just stop. Why does this matter to you anyway?"

"I realised how important friendship really is because of Matthew, so I can't just stand around watching you ruin your friendship with Arthur."

"I'm not really sure you can call it a 'friendship' exactly, I doubt he's ever considered me as a friend. And like I said, we've always been fighting. It means nothing, really." Francis claimed. "If the ghost is gone, he'll stop saying he can see it and I'll have one less thing to fight with him about."

"But suppose Arthur's telling the truth every time he says he sees something that others can't see," Gilbert suggested. "He must feel so hurt by you, his friend, not believing him."

Francis sighed. "I don't understand why you seem to think me and him are friends." Then he paused for a moment to actually consider how his arguments made Arthur feel. "You're being really serious about this… and I guess you might be right," Francis sighed again. "I'll talk to him later. I'll try not to fight, but if he starts it don't expect me to be the bigger person."

* * *

Later in an almost empty classroom, with 5 minutes to spare before lesson would begin, Gilbert and Francis sat at their desks. Gilbert gently rubbed the seed between his fingers and Francis could tell by the sad look on his face that he was thinking of Matthew. He wanted to cheer him up or talk about something that would get his mind off Matthew for a while, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't talk about how Antonio had recently developed a crush on Lovino, because he wanted to keep out the topic of relationships. Francis sighed at how hopeless the situation seemed.

Then Arthur, who looked gloomy as ever, entered the room and sat down at his desk. Francis stood up from his own desk and walk over to Arthur's.

"Arthur, I have to tell you something," Francis sounded very serious.

"Just sod off!" Arthur replied, assuming that Francis was only going to mock him more.

"Arthur, désolé," Francis spoke in French as he felt it came more naturally for him to say it in French than English.

"Could you _not_ speak French when we're not in France? What's that suppose to mean anyway, frog?" Hearing the French and not knowing what it meant made Arthur feel more irritated than he was before.

"I'm saying I'm sorry. I let our fights go too far sometimes. I believe that you saw a ghost, I shouldn't have kept teasing you about it," Francis' apology was genuine.

Arthur appeared shocked. "Ha, you can't be serious, you've never once been sorry for anything. I don't need your pity, just leave me alone."

"Well this time I am!" Francis insisted. "I really believe you saw a ghost. I still think you're being ridiculous when you talk about fairies and other creatures, but I do believe you about this ghost."

Arthur just laughed at how ridiculous Francis sounded to him.

"What's so funny?" Francis asked.

"It's just that…" Arthur spoke between chuckles of laughter. "You actually sound kind of serious."

"Of course I'm serious!" Francis claimed. "I'm truly sorry for teasing you, I really am."

"Fine I'll forgive you, frog," Arthur grinned. "If you get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness."

"As if I'd ever do that," Francis replied, feeling humiliated enough just apologising normally. "I just wanted you to hear my apology; I don't care if you forgive me or not."

"If you're done apologising, then go away," Arthur demanded. "The last time you argued with me before the start of lesson, I got in trouble for swearing, bastard."

"Arthur Kirkland," the teacher spoke as he entered the classroom. "After acknowledging that swearing gets you into trouble, I would have thought you'd stop. Detention after school today."

"That bastard frog," Arthur mumbled under his breath as he slouched in his seat. Arthur did forgive Francis, and it did mean a lot to him that he had apologised, but he had too much pride to let his appreciation show.

Francis returned to his seat and saw that Gilbert appeared happier after seeing him at least try to improve their friendship, if it could even be called that. It was time for lesson to begin, and it was as boring as the class had anticipated it to be. Once the lesson was over, Francis and Gilbert were about to leave the classroom, then suddenly Alfred came zoomed past them. He headed straight to Arthur's desk.

"Artie!" Alfred spoke loudly, appearing more cheerful than before.

Francis glances at Gilbert and gave him a look as if to say: "You went pestering Alfred about this too, didn't you?" The two of them stayed in the classroom so they could eavesdrop on the conversation.

Arthur, who had just finished packing his things away, looked up at the American. He appeared annoyed that Alfred had called him by a nickname. "What do you want?" Arthur asked, sounding rather grumpy, unable to comprehend why Alfred was talking to him in such a happy tone.

"I was wondering if you'd like to watch a new horror movie with me later," Alfred spoke as if he were confident Arthur would agree to.

"Why? So you can laugh about how ghosts aren't real while you cower in fear behind a pillow? Well I don't care anymore," Arthur replied harshly. Once again, he was assuming that he was going to be made fun of.

"No, so I can apologise. I stopped spending time with you and I shouldn't have been so mean to you. I'll believe you; if you say you saw a ghost then you saw a ghost," Alfred said.

"You believe me?" Arthur asked with a confused tone to his voice, wondering what had gotten into the two people who believed him the least to make them suddenly believe him.

"You're my friend, right?" Alfred asked, and then continued to speak as he didn't expect an answer. "It took me longer than it should have to realise this, but I shouldn't doubt my friends, so I'll believe you no matter what ridiculous things you say."

"That's a ridiculous reason," Arthur commented. "So you'll believe _anything _I say?"

"Well, that depends what it is," Alfred replied. "If I know for a fact that you're lying, then of course I can't believe you. But I can't prove you're lying about the ghost, just like how you can't really prove to me that it is real, so I'll just have to believe that you're not lying about it."

"Fine," Arthur smiled. "I'll watch that movie with you."

"So you forgive me? Thank you, Artie." Alfred grabbed Arthur by his wrists and pulled him out of his seat. "Let's go to my house now."

Arthur tried to pull out of Alfred grip. "I can't yet," he scowled in Francis' direction. "Because of that French git, I have to stay for detention."

"I'll wait in detention with you," Alfred decided. "My only plans for the rest of the day were to spend more time with you anyway."

"Whatever, it your choice," Arthur couldn't hide his smile as much as he tired. He was clearly happy that he and Alfred had made up and were back to being friends. He sat back down at his desk and Alfred took a seat next to him.

Gilbert smiled as he saw how happy everyone appeared, but then clenched the seed in his hand. His smile faded and he bit his lip to stop him from crying. _At least they can have their happy ending._

* * *

**A/N: Aw, good guy Gilbert does the right thing and helps Arthur have friends again so he's not all lonely like Matthew was; he's just so awesome like that!  
This chapter was more difficult for me to write than the other chapters for some reason; I hope I did okay. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last. **


	7. Chapter 7 - Growing Big and Strong

–Growing Big and Strong –

Once school had finished, Gilbert headed straight home. He walked into the large garden at the back of his house and started looking around. He eventually decided on a perfect place in the garden to plant his seed. It was between the small flower beds and the bird table, which Gilbird was currently feeding from.

Gilbert found a small shovel and watering can in the garden shed. After filling the can with water, he took it to where he wanted to plant the seed. He dug a small hole in the ground and gently placed the seed inside. After refilling the hole with the dirt he had just dug out, he picked up the watering can and gently poured the water out over the ground. Gardening wasn't something he had thought much about before, so he worried about how much water he should pour. _It's really sunny today, so I should probably use enough water that the ground won't dry out, but I don't want to drown Birdie._

"The awesome me will keep you safe here in my awesome garden, Birdie," Gilbert smiled slightly "Here you can grow and I'll be able to see you every day. You'll grow into the most awesome tree in the world."

A week after planting the seed, it still had not sprouted above the ground. Gilbert grew worried that it wouldn't grow at all. He placed his hand gently on the area where he had buried the seed and started to sulk. _Should I dig it up to see if it's growing? But maybe I shouldn't… I'll just wait a while longer… Please grow soon, Birdie, I want to see you again, even if you are a plant now. _

Not long after, Gilbert noticed that the seed was growing. He was so relieved to see that the tree was growing. He looked at the small plant with a huge grin on his face. _Awesome! You're growing, Birdie!_ The garden soon became Gilbert's favourite place where he would spend most of his time.

As time went on, the tree grew and grew. Gilbert grew happier the larger it grew, however, there was still sadness inside of him longing for Matthew to still be a person, even if had remained a ghost. Matthew eventually grew into a very large maple tree, and Gilbert was still visiting every day.

A day never passed without Gilbert thinking of his ghostly friend whom he loved so much, despite them only really knowing each other for a couple of weeks. Even though he had to move on with his life, he knew he'd never forget the ghost he loved so much. Touching the tree is as close he'll ever get to being able to touch Matthew.

Gilbert pressed his forehead and his hands against the tree. "I still wish you were a person. I wish I could hold you, Birdie. I want to be able to wrap my arms around you and cuddle you and kiss you. You were perfect, and I still can't get over how fast you left me. I guess you're not really gone because you were reborn as a tree… but it's different, Birdie. I can't hold you like this." Gilbert let his hands fall to his sides, with his head still pressed against the tree, and tears began to drip down his face.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gilbert's brother, Ludwig, and his friend, Feliciano, were at home. They walked past the window that allowed view to the garden. Feliciano couldn't help but notice Gilbert leaning against the tree.

"Luddy, what's wrong with Gilbert?" Feliciano asked as he stopped to look at Gilbert.

"Is he out in the garden again?" Ludwig asked as he walked back to the window to see the answer for himself. He let out a sigh at the pitiful sight.

"I think he's crying," Feliciano said with a sad tone in his voice. "Did something happen?"

"Remember when I told you my brother planted a seed in the garden believing it was someone he loved?" Ludwig asked, receiving a nod from Feliciano. "Well, that's the tree that grew from the seed. He checks on it all the time, but it sometimes makes him sad and causes him to cry."

"He must have really loved that person. Should we comfort him?" Feliciano asked, feeling very concerned about Gilbert.

"Whatever I say never seems to help," Ludwig replied, letting out a sigh. "I usually call Francis and Antonio; they're usually good at cheering him up, or at least getting his mind off things for a while. I just hope he'll be over to get over it completely one day. It's terrible seeing my brother like this."

The two of them left Gilbert alone to cry for a while, and then Ludwig called Francis and Antonio as he said he would.

Gilbert's friends rushed over as soon as they got the call. They knew Gilbert would be in the garden, so they didn't bother knocking on the front door, but climbed over the garden fence. This usually annoyed Ludwig, but he didn't mind as he knew they had come to cheer up his brother.

Gilbert had stopped crying by the time they arrived. He was slumped on the ground, sitting with his back against the tree and his head tilted backwards so he could watch the branches above him blowing in the breeze.

"You've been crying again, haven't you?" Francis asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Gilbert didn't turn to face him, but stayed in the same position, staring at the branches. _If only these branches were stronger, I could build an awesome tree house and live here with Birdie forever. _

"Gilbert, are you even listening?" Francis asked, unsure if his friend could hear him. He received no reply of any kind. "Don't just ignore us when we came here to cheer you up."

The trio were silent for about 30 seconds of awkwardness before anyone spoke again.

"Hey, Matthew sure grew into a fine tree" Antonio commented, gazing up at the red tree. "Don't you think it's about time you grew to? You know, move on?"

"He wouldn't want you like this, mon ami," Francis said, crouching down and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's not fair on Matthew that you cry in front of him almost every day. If he loves you, then it much really hurt him to see you cry."

"Matthew wouldn't want-" Antonio began to speak, but was cut off my Gilbert.

"You never even knew him!" Gilbert snapped at his friend. "Don't tell me what he would and wouldn't want!"

"So you think he wanted this? You think he became a seed just so you could cry to a tree?" Antonio shouted back.

Gilbert looked down at the ground in shame. He didn't want to think that what he had been doing had only been hurting Matthew. _They're right. I feel so stupid. It's so un-awesome of me to do this to Birdie; he wouldn't want me to be sad… but how can I be happy without him? _

"I'm sure became a seed so that he could still be with you in some way, so you'd still have a part of him with you," Francis said. "No, we never knew Matthew, but anyone who cares about you wouldn't want you to be crying like this. Please cheer up."

Despite being told not to cry, Gilbert burst into tear. His friends hugged him until he couldn't cry any more, but he swore that this would be the last time he cried about Matthew. He swore that he would move on with his life, but he would never forget the ghost, and now tree, that he loved so much.

* * *

**A/N: Well that was this was the last chapter****. ****I hope you enjoyed reading it. I know it's kinda weird that I made Matthew a tree in the end, but I didn't want him to stay a ghost and I didn't want him to completely disappear. I guess it really messed up Gilbert for a while though… Sorry…  
Thank you for all the favourites, follows, and reviews. **


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